One of the first steps you take when you are determining your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

It's a good idea to determine when it's the best time to plant petunias by using the USDA zone info for Colton.

Planting Calendar for Petunias

Frost tolerance for petunias:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

You can plant petunias slightly earlier in the year because they are barely cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant petunias in Colton is February. However, you really should wait until March if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant petunias and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your petunias may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your petunias indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on February 15 in Colton. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 25°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Colton is not always accurate the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Colton it frosts late in the year after February 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your petunias in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Colton

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	25°F
Highest Expected Low	30°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 30°F.

Plants to Grow in Colton

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Colton.